EVESHAM rowing coach Mark Earnshaw is celebrating a brilliant bronze in Beijing after his Great Britain heavyweight double scull Steven Rowbotham and Matt Wells stormed home third in their final.

The former Prince Henry’s High School history teacher watched his charges pip Sydney Olympic singles champion Rob Waddell and his New Zealand partner for bronze.

Strokeman Rowbotham paid tribute to their 33-year-old coach, saying: “The three of us are a really tight knit group and he’s done a lot of good work with us.

“He might not have the background of some of the other coaches but we owe him a lot and hoped to put the boat on the podium for him.”

Earnshaw started working for GB in 2002 as performance development coach of the World Class Start programme.